Today we were going to make a run north and then south along a rugged road with canyons, but to tell you the truth I felt a bit yukky and didn’t feel like a long run. Lenny didn’t feel too great either, so it must have been something we ate or drank. We both wanted to stay a few days in one spot and as much as we considered paying to stay at the Auberge for a few days more, the lure of free camping made us pack up and take to the road…
Leaving Tinghir we headed west towards Ouarzazate, which was a relatively short run of around 160km. We’re camped about 10km to the east of Ouarzazate besides a large lake called the Barrage El Mansour Eddhabi. The lake is less than half full, which I assume is from the two previous hot summers and dry winters they’ve had in Morocco and according to Google maps, we should be firmly underwater, but we’re not.
Although we were tempted to camp right at the waters edge, we decided to camp a little further away to avoid any mozzies – but close enough for the view. We were surrounded by bushes which hopefully should keep prying eyes away. We’re staying here for at least two days, but when we decide to leave we are sadly going in different directions as I want to go south and Lenny wants to go slightly north.
Today’s ride was easy and very straightforward, stopping once for a traffic jam of camels and once for fuel. It’s strange, after growing up with self-service fuel stations, I now have to wait till a man comes along to fill up your tank. The total cost of the fuel is shown on the pump, so it’s all above board. Just to the north is the start of the Atlas Mountains, which we’ve been skirting all day. They look mightily impressive from a distance and I can’t wait to head into the mountains some day soon.
Several villages and towns we rode through were all the same colour – just slight variations of orange ochre. In one town every door was painted light green, which was a lovely contrast against the deep red ochre. There are many old traditional adobe or fort-like buildings, and also a lot of new buildings, which are made to look similar to the traditional.
So, as sun sets in this part of Morocco, I’m going to stay here a few days and get some videos edited and also have a rest – and more importantly, give my ankle a rest which actually feels better every day. The only time my ankle grumbles is when I have to get off the bike.
